Clear The Air

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Light Rail Is But One Of Several Ways That Central Florida Can Cut Down On Air Pollution. Local Leaders Must Take A Deep Breath And Get Serious.

November 28, 1998|By Fuchsia

Central Florida's hot, airless summers aren't for the faint of heart. Nor are they for small children, the elderly or anyone with respitory problems, it would seem.

The problem is ozone - the pollutant that causes a yellowish haze to hang ominously in the air, making it difficult even for ordinarily healthy people to breathe. For two summers in a row, Central Florida's smog levels have been perilously high.

And it's not just the health of individual folks that might be jeopardized.

If the region doesn't make a serious effort to improve the air quality, it will face severe federal restrictions that could strangle Central Florida's economic-development efforts. Businesses could be forced to limit emissions or be required to use cleaner fuels - costly and difficult options for a company to consider.

A decision, then, must be made.

Studies in California and in Central Florida have found that cars contribute more than 80 percent of the pollutants that cause smog. Older cars built before 1981 are the worst.

So, if the local leaders want to continue to diversify the economy, make the region less dependent on tourism, improve wages and keep the tax base stable for those who live and work here, they have but one choice: limit the amount of pollutants that cars belch into the air.

In order for that to happen, though, motorists must have an environmentally friendly, readily accessible transportation alternative. And that makes a proposal to build an electrically powered, light-rail system between downtown Orlando and International Drive uniquely attractive.

Of course, a transportation alternative such as light rail is but one alternative to building even more new roads, which inevitably would attract even more smog-producing cars.

That's why state lawmakers are considering a variety of options, such as a state buyback of old clunkers from owners to reduce pollution. Why not encourage carpooling, expand the bus system or demand that local politicians approve only well-planned developments that limit car travel?

All those ideas are far superior to the alternative: a community blanketed in smog and paved with ribbons of asphalt.